SFPD effectively by deploying overwhelming force swiftly put down a brief protest by the group “Anti-ICE SF” during the massive Pride Festival on the City’s Market Street thoroughfare.
Article and Photos – San Francisco Chronicle 6.30.2019
The group, part of Abolish ICE SF, handed out a printed letter of demands calling for SF Pride to exclude police and pointing out the hypocrisy they see in inviting police to celebrate the anniversary of a clash with cops.
“Too many years San Francisco Pride has chosen to ignore the asks for a safer pride free from police,” the letter said. “They care more about pleasing corporate interests and hosting a massive party than listening to LGBTQ2S communities and keeping them safe.”
Police arrested Taryn Saldivar, 21, of Oakland, and Kenneth Bilecki, 27, of Santa Rosa, on charges of resisting arrest and interfering with a parade route. Saldivar was also charged with battery on a police officer, police said, noting that one officer was treated at the scene for a nonlife-threatening injury.
As police drove the two protesters away in a van, the crowd chanted “Shame!” and “Let them go!”
Media chieftans are reluctant to publish hard hitting commentary when it comes to the current White House occupant. Better to kow tow rather than speak uncomfortable truths to power.
CNN Business 6.30.2019
New York (CNN)A Canadian cartoonist’s illustration of President Donald Trump playing golf over the bodies of two drowned migrants went viral Wednesday. Two days later, Michael de Adder said on Twitter that he had been let go by a publishing company in New Brunswick, Canada.
De Adder’s illustration depicted Trump asking the two dead migrants, “Do you mind if I play through?”
“The highs and lows of cartooning. Today I was just let go from all newspapers in New Brunswick,” De Adder tweeted. He later clarified that he had technically been under contract to work for Brunswick News Inc., and wasn’t an employee who could be fired.
Brunswick News Inc. responded in a statement on Sunday that “it is entirely incorrect to suggest” that it canceled a freelance contract with de Adder over the Trump cartoon.
“This is a false narrative which has emerged carelessly and recklessly on social media,” the publishing company wrote. It said that de Adder never offered the Trump cartoon to the company and had already decided to “bring back” another cartoonist it said was popular with readers. “[N]egotiations had been ongoing for weeks,” it stated.
De Adder tweeted that he would bounce back from losing the job and that he just had to “recoup a percentage of my weekly income.” De Adder has a book he said will be released in September.
He did not respond to a request for further comment from CNN Business.
The German team seemed tired in the near 90 degree heat, languid and unable to push themselves against a more aggressive Swedish group. Only in the final 10 minutes did the Germans go hard. By then it was too late. With Germany out of the action Team USA could meet Sweden in the final match on July 7. In Group Play the Americans bested the Swedes 2-0 in a tough match. See Blog post 6.20.2019 when I wrote the USA “Smothered” Sweden.
Deutsche Welle 6.29.2019
Despite taking the lead in their quarterfinal against Sweden, Germany’s World Cup tournament came to an end. Sweden executed a brilliant matchplan to expose Germany’s weaknesses emege victorious 2-1.
After 24 years of not beating Germany in big tournaments, Sweden finally overcame their poor run of form to seal a deserved win. Germany are the first team to score first and not progress at this tournament.
It all started so well for Germany, when Lina Magull scored a superb scissor kick after a brilliant assist by Sara Däbritz.
That goal seemed to wake Sweden up though, and not long afterwards Marina Hegering misjudged a long ball, Sofia Jakobsson latched onto it and fired past Almuth Schult.
“We are in process, but it’s not stable yet. We have to defend better,” Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said afterwards.
From that point on, Germany looked rattled and despite cooling breaks and halftime, they couldn’t settle. Three minutes after the restart, Schult’s great save wasn’t enough to prevent Sweden from scoring as Stina Blackstenius stabbed home the rebound. Germany felt somewhat aggrieved that a tackle on Magull in the build up to the goal wasn’t seen as a foul by referee Stephanie Frappart.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg had brought on Dzsenifer Marozsan at the break, in the hope of seeing an increase in creative play but the Germany star was kept relatively quiet.
With time running out, 17-year-old talent Lena Oberdorf was thrown on and she instantly gave Germany more dynamism. Alexandra Popp got to a header but was called offside. The decision was a close one, and needed VAR to confirm. Had Popp not been offside, it seemed Germany were due a penalty as Popp was also clattered by Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl. (photo shown above).
“We lacked a bit of fortune, and that hurts. We lacked attacking penetration. In some passages, we weren’t clinical or brave enough. We will grow,” Voss-Tecklenburg said afterwards.
In added time, Germany had two more chances. First Oberdorf headed wide with the goal at her mercy, and then Hegering couldn’t keep her header down. It was too little, too late from this Germany team who exit the tournament having learned lessons that should see a young squad come back stronger in the future.
No comment by me is necessary. The Deutsche Welle article with a little help from the New York Times and The Guardian says it all.
The Guardian 6.28.2019
Megan Rapinoe showed no sign of stemming her outspoken ways after scoring the goals that saw USA march one step closer towards the World Cup final.
“Go gays!” she said after the 2-1 quarter-final victory over France in Paris and when asked to comment on whether it being Pride month made her contribution more personally significant. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team – it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there!
Deutsche Welle 6.28.2019
PARIS – In a game billed as the biggest in the history of women’s football, the US overcame France in a thrilling contest. Fittingly, in a week when she has grabbed the headlines, Megan Rapinoe proved the match winner.
France 1-2 US
(Renard 81′ – Rapinoe 5′, 65′)
France again left a major tournament with nothing to show for its efforts. It has never finished higher than fourth at the World Cup, the Olympics or the European championships. It has departed its last five major tournaments — two European championships, two World Cups and an Olympics — in the quarterfinals.
Losing at home, to the United States, with the whole world watching, will only make the sting sharper. The Americans merely moved on, forming into a circle and dancing as they moved on to the semifinals for the eighth time in eight Women’s World Cups. (New York Times – bold type paragraphs)
Megan Rapinoe keeps delivering. At the start of the week, it was words. By the end, it was goals. Rapinoe is undoubtedly a woman for the biggest of occasions.
Rapinoe ran away in celebration after her early free kick flew in through a crowd. She stood with one arm raised up, the other raised out. (picture above). It was the celebration of someone who completely understood the irony of the situation. This woman, this hero of resistance, was the match winner just days after she had publicly and colorfully said she wouldn’t go to the White House. Even Rapinoe had to smile.
Rapinoe’s celebration for the second was louder than her first (shown above).
The 33-year-old has never shirked away from her values, and has made sure the world is actuely aware of what those values are. She has kneeled to protest social inequality in the US, constantly given her voice to the LGBTQ community, and has been a part of the lawsuit against the US soccer federation for equal pay. Everything Rapinoe says or does she does so with such conviction – whether it’s scoring goals in World Cups or supporting people who need to be heard.
In an era where the silence of many footballers is deafening, Rapinoe is loud and proud. For many, she is that rarest of things: an athlete truly worthy of the word hero.
At a time when women’s football is reaching unprecendented levels of attention and recognition, Rapinoe has not just used the platform football has given her to remind the world of her sporting talent but also to give voice to the issues important to her. She cares, not just about things close to her but also about many issues that she never has experienced. Empathetic and expressive, there’s a case to be made that Rapinoe’s football is an extension of who she is. There is no separation for the 33-year-old. From perfect placement to pink hair, she has always stayed true to herself.
Rapinoe chooses not to sing the national anthem
At 15, she played her first youth international for the US. She scored her first World Cup goal in 2011. She has overcome three ACL tears. Now, aged 33, she was scoring a brace to guide the US into a World Cup semifinal. In the first half, she was everywhere. In the second, with France finally bursting out of their fear, her lack of defensive cover became a growing concern. The game grew fast and furious, another great piece of evidence that the women’s game is relishing the attention it is finally getting. Then, as she often does, Rapinoe popped up at the end of an excellent team move that exposed an out-of-place France defense to sweep home a second.
There were other heroes on the night, especially after Wendie Renard rose to head in a goal that reinvigorated a home crowd short of hope. Crystal Dunn was outstanding and Alyssa Naeher stayed calm when the US had to weather the storm.
This was Rapinoe’s game though. This was her moment to show the world what she has been doing for so long. The midfielder has said she wants to leave the game in a better state. Nights like this show just how much she is doing for the sport and for the US’ chances of winning another World Cup, but they also send another reminder: just how much of a privilege it is to see and hear Megan Rapinoe in all she does.
She makes America proud. Superstar fearless Megan Rapinoe speaks truth to bullying, whether on the soccer Pitch or to the current White House occupant.. Ms. Rapinoe is amped up for Team USA and its Friday match with the French team in Paris.
Excerpted from The Guardian 6.27.2019
USA midfielder urges teammates to ‘think hard’ about a visit Administration ‘doesn’t fight for the same things we fight for’
Megan Rapinoe has urged her USA teammates to “think hard” about associating themselves with Donald Trump. The 33-year-old found herself embroiled in a row with Trump after footage shot earlier this year emerged showing her saying: “I’m not going to the fucking White House,” when she was asked whether she would visit should her team win the World Cup.
Rapinoe, who is gay, has previously attacked Trump, claiming he is sexist and misogynistic, and described herself as “a walking protest”. She became one of the first athletes to join the then NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s protest against alleged police brutality by kneeling during the American national anthem.
After team regulations were changed Rapinoe now protests by refusing to sing the national anthem but her White House comments thrust her into the spotlight of the president, who accused her on Twitter of disrespect.
“Considering how much time and effort and pride we take in the platform we have, using it for good and leaving the game in a better place and hopefully the world in a better place, I don’t think I would want to go.
“I would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending that platform or having that co-opted by an administration that doesn’t feel the same way and doesn’t fight for the same things we fight for.”
The uber conservative media machine is already in overdrive about the ascendancy of the soon to be Queens District Attorney. I am posting the following editorial in full. As the old saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
New York Post 6.26.2019
The borough’s future is at stake: Its non-lefty majority needs to unite, and fast.
Lefties nationwide are crowing over Tiffany Cabán’s apparent victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the Queens district attorney job. The question now is whether leaders who represent the solid majority of the borough’s residents can join together to beat Cabán in the general election.
This is about not just the rise of the Democratic Socialists, but also the slow death of the once-vaunted Queens Democratic machine. It started losing at least three years ago, to moderates angry at how the establishment had grown out of touch with local concerns.
Brian Barnwell beat longtime Assemblywoman Marge Markey on the issue of a homeless shelter opening in Maspeth. The next year, reformer Robert Holden ousted incumbent City Councilwoman Liz Crowley.
But the machine’s weakness attracted national progressives to move in, recruit Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Rep. Joe Crowley — and succeed in offing the king of the machine.
Rep. Greg Meeks took over as county chairman — and opted for business as usual. But AOC’s rise allows Queens lefties to fund-raise nationwide: Cabán drew a legion of small donations from across America, plus endorsements from Sens. Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders. The New York Times, desperate to renew its lefty cred, also blessed her.
And Cabán’s win wasn’t even Meeks’ only humiliation Tuesday: Lumarie Maldonado-Cruz also beat the machine, as the ex-Bronx resident won a “once-in-a-generation” countywide Civil Court race.
Borough President Melinda Katz, on Election Night a close second to Cabán, has a tiny chance of turning out the victor once all the votes are counted next week. More likely, she’ll need to find a way to fight on in the general election, by allying with voters the machine’s been ignoring — including the county’s Republicans. The current GOP candidate for DA has no hope, and there’s already talk of replacing him with Katz.
The likely victory of a progressive young candidate in Queens, NY – an area with a population larger than 15 American States, – reflects the major upheavel in American criminal justice. Chesa Boudin in San Francisco is running on a similiar platform of a thorough recalibration of the criminal law environment. It also puts on full display the wide spread opposition and dismay toward the current regime in Washington, DC
Excerpted from Vox 6.26.2019
Tiffany Cabán seems poised to win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the Queens district attorney race — potentially giving a big victory to criminal justice reformers who want to end the war on drugs and mass incarceration.
The Queens race may seem like a small local news story. But it’s not — Queens has more people than 15 states and Washington, DC, so the race is a huge deal to a lot of people. And this is the kind of story that really matters for criminal justice reform, because district attorneys and other prosecutors hold tremendous power over the systems that oversee all incarceration in the US.
The race was too close to call as of early Wednesday afternoon. But Cabán declared victory late Tuesday night, telling the crowd at her watch party, “We did it, y’all.” New York Working Families Party Director Bill Lipton described the likely victory in sweeping terms: “Queens is turned upside down. Giants fall and empires crumble.”
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Cabán, a 31-year-old public defender, led Melinda Katz, Queens borough president, by nearly 1,100 votes, or around 1.3 percentage points, in a field of six candidates (although seven remain on the ballot). About 3,400 absentee ballots remain to be counted. The final results may not be known until July 3, according to the New York Times.
A victory in the primary is expected to be a win in the overall district attorney race in Democrat-heavy Queens, which will be decided in November.
Cabán ran on a very progressive platform, focused on racial justice and criminal justice reform. She promised to end cash bail; decriminalize drugs, sex work, subway turnstile jumping, and other crimes of poverty; and set up an internal unit to review wrongful convictions. When I spoke to Cabán in May, she also talked about taking violent crimes seriously — speaking to the duality that minority communities face in that they often feel law enforcement simultaneously over-polices them for minor crimes but under-polices them for serious ones.
We were in Berlin last October 2, the day of the planned terrorist attack. October 3 is Reunification Day in Germany.
The gang of neo Nazis were arrested on October 1, 2018 and are now being formally charged with Terrorism offenses.
Deutsche Welle 6.26.2019
A right wing terror group was allegedly planning a civil war-like rebellion in Berlin before they were stopped by police. Chemnitz has emerged as a center of extreme-right groups.
Photo by Lee Heidhues – Brandenburg Gate Berlin 10.3.2018
German prosecutors charged a right-wing group with terrorism offenses, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Members of Revolution Chemnitz were alleged to have the formed the group in September with the intention of planning and carrying out terror attacks.
The charges were initially revealed by a collaboration between public broadcasters NDR, WDR and newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and later confirmed by the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe.
Members of the group had allegedly planned to orchestrate a civil-war-like rebellion in Berlin on October 2, 2018. Prosecutors based their charges partly on the use of chat logs found on the defendants’ mobile phones.
Eight alleged members are being held in pre-trial custody and known to police as leaders in the right-wing extremist scene in the eastern city of Chemnitz, which was the scene of anti-immigrant protests last year.
The trial is expected to begin in the fall before the Higher Regional Court of Dresden.
A squirrel in the western German city of Dortmund sparked a major rescue operation after it got stuck in a manhole cover.
The squirrel was discovered with its head poking through the drain cover in the city’s Hainalle on Thursday morning. Emergency services were alerted around 10.30am.
Firefighters presumed that the rodent had tried to escape from the sewer system through the manhole cover – but had unfortunately got into a sticky situation during the process.
Rescue teams didn’t manage to free the squirrel so they took the manhole cover – with the animal stuck inside – to a nearby vet.
Lee's Perspective 